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    • CommentAuthorporton
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2010
     
    I wrote a draft article. (I fact not yet wrote even rough draft but hope to make it readable and available for download soon.)

    Can I ask questions about conjectures in my article? (I mean these questions which can be understood only after reading my article.)

    Are such subtle questions acceptable for MathOverflow?
  1.  
    I think you should try your best to ask questions in a way that can be understood without reading the full article. MO questions are best when they're largely self-contained.
  2.  

    @Noah: I'm not sure you remember who Porton is, but I think you should find out...

  3.  

    May I respectfully suggest that you remove mathematics21.org/abel-prize.html from your website before participating at MathOverflow, rather as you might be expected to wear pants when coming to a seminar?

    I'm not trying to contradict any claims that you make there, just suggesting that you may find the community more receptive if you didn't score on Baez's index.

    • CommentAuthorYemon Choi
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2010
     

    @Scott: I think this is up to the user's own wishes; he isn't being defamatory. My personal opinion, like yours, is that having that link will prejudice people against him, but he should be free to have it there, no?

  4.  

    I agree that Victor Porton would probably get a better reception here (and elsewhere) if he removed his plea for the Abel Prize from his webpage. However, I also strongly feel that such a plea is not offensive or defamatory, and it is certainly not an excuse for public ridicule.

    In particular to Harry Gindi: please stop calling people's attention to this website. It seems that your goal is to make sure that others share your low opinion, which is simply mean. Naivete is not a crime. Please pick on someone your own size (or larger).

    • CommentAuthorHarry Gindi
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2010 edited
     

    I think it's offensive to the mathematical community to suggest that such work measures up to the work of, for example, Tate, who won the prize last year.

    • CommentAuthorAndy Putman
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2010 edited
     
    @Harry : I think that the reputation of Tate is secure enough that it does not need to be defended like this...
    • CommentAuthorHarry Gindi
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2010 edited
     

    @Pete: If Victor Porton removes the page, I have no intention of mirroring his website to continue showing people. If, as Victor believes, it is nothing to embarrassed about, then I am doing him no disservice be letting people know about it.

    I don't understand why we have to pretend that he's not a crackpot. Maybe I'm being too blunt, but I think it's patronizing to believe that Victor can't handle the truth.

  5.  
    Harry, I think you should consider the patience we've all showed with you when you consider how you interact with people who you find annoying.
    • CommentAuthorYemon Choi
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2010
     

    Harry: without wishing to pile on, I don't think it is the role of MO to be acting as some kind of guardian of Proper Maths or Crankbusters, even if such things were to have a purpose in the wider maths community. I genuinely think that as you encounter more mathematicians and their work over the years, you may find your attitudes shift as to how to behave.

    Besides, Victor Porton has displayed much more polite behaviour than some people we've recently had frequenting the site, and to my knowledge has not been claiming that Big Names Are Wrong or similar.

    • CommentAuthorHarry Gindi
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2010 edited
     

    @Noah: I don't understand the comparison you're trying to make here. I'm not a crackpot if that's what you're implying.

    Edit: It seems that Porton has removed the page from his website. This was a good choice.

    Edit 2: Nope, it's back up.

  6.  
    I didn't mean to imply that you were a crackpot, just that you can be trying at times and thus might be more understanding of other people's ideosyncracies.
    • CommentAuthorHarry Gindi
    • CommentTimeJul 15th 2010 edited
     

    @Noah:

    Granted, one of the biggest reasons I'm trying at times is that I'm intolerant of other people's ideosyncrasies...

    Anyway, I'm not sure if any of you have read past the beginning of the page, but there's definitely a lot of comedic gold.